a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to multi-terminal electrical connectors.
b) Prior Art
Multi-terminal electrical connectors are designed for high frequency transmission in the telecommunications industry. One type of connector has two spaced and parallel rows of terminals at a front side of a dielectric housing and two further spaced and parallel rows of terminals at a rear side of the housing. Conductors of the connector electrically connect the terminals of each row on the front side to the terminals of a specific row on the rear side, the conductors extending in laterally spaced relationship through the housing. In use of this type of connector, two conductors of a twisted insulated pair are connected one to each of two laterally spaced terminal these terminals being located one in each of the two rows at the rear side of the housing.
Cross-talk is a paramount problem in high frequency transmission and has a relationship to the pitch or lay length of a twisted pair of conductors. In other words, as the lay length is reduced, cross-talk between adjacent twisted pairs is also reduced. However, while cross-talk may be lessened by choice of lay length, the effect of this can be somewhat nullified in that cross-talk is permitted to increase when high frequency transmission takes place through the above-described type of multiterminal connector. This increase is due to electromagnetic coupling inside the connector.